The parents of a cancer stricken teenager have told how their daughter kept her terminal illness a secret before she died.

Leah Wilby, 15, wanted no one to know she was dying because she didn’t want any special treatment – preferring instead to spend her final weeks studying for her GCSEs and choosing a dress for the school prom.

With the help of her mother, Debbie, father Richard, and sister Keata, 16, she kept friends, family, neighbours and teachers in the dark to fulfil her dying wish to live out her days as a ‘normal teenager’.

Leah Wilby, 15, died of cancer just days after completing her GCSE examinations in 2011. She kept the cancer a secret because she wanted to be treated normally

Her doctors even arranged late night chemotherapy sessions so Leah never missed classes at Great Yarmouth High School.

She exceeded medics’ expectations to sit ten exams but died just days after finishing them.

Her devastated family wept with pride when they collected the results to find she had passed them all with grades ranging between A* and C.

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Mrs Wilby said: ‘I was always proud of Leah, but words cannot express how I felt when I saw how well she had done.

‘I already knew she was amazing but seeing the grades she achieved in those circumstances blew us away.

‘But we joked that knowing Leah she would still have been cross not to get all A*. That’s just what she was like.’

Despite her illness, Leah achieved ten GCSEs all graded between A* and C. Her parents, Debbie and Richard, say it broke their hearts to watch her revising when they knew she might not live long enough to sit the exams

Before she died, Leah bought a dress for her school prom as she hoped that she would be well enough to attend. However, did not survive and was eventually buried in the outfit

Hospital PA, Mrs Wilby, 45 added: ‘We were shocked when Leah first told us she wanted to keep her diagnosis a secret.

‘We didn’t want to lie to people but Leah was a very strong-minded girl and once she had decided that was it.

‘She loved her life as it was and she knew it would change beyond all recognition if people knew how sick she was.’

Leah had already battled and beaten neuroblastoma - a childhood cancer of the nerve cells - at the age of eight.

Debbie said: ‘Leah had a lump on her neck when she was a child and I kept taking her to the doctors because I had a strong feeling something was wrong.

Leah was initially diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a cancer of the nerve cells - after she developed a lump in her neck when she was eight-years-old

She had aggressive treatment for the cancer and briefly went into remission. Here she is pictured meeting McFly drummer Dougie Poynter

‘But they assured me it was nothing to worry about. She had a history of tonsillitis and it was put down to that.’

However, during a family holiday Mrs Wilby and husband Richard, 44, noticed the lump was growing every day.

When they got home a biopsy revealed it was cancer but Leah went into remission after surgery and chemotherapy.

Mrs Wibly said: ‘We were so happy. Her hair grew back and Leah put the cancer behind her.

‘By the time she started high school her hair had grown back and she was with a new group of people who didn’t know what she had been through and she didn’t tell them.

Leah is pictured meeting the Queen at Addenbrookes hospital, in Cambridge, where she was treated. Leah's symptoms were originally put down's to tonsillitis

‘She loved being treated normally and she absolutely loved school. She was full of plans and dreams for the future and knew she had to study hard to achieve them.’

Leah had been predicted top grades and had already won a place at sixth form college to study four A levels when she was told the cancer had returned.

Mrs Wilby said: ‘She came down one morning and told me she could feel another lump in her neck.

‘Time stood still. My heart stopped. Call it mother’s intuition, but I just knew it was back.’

Debbie contacted Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where Leah had been treated previously and they arranged tests.

Six years after she had beaten it, tests revealed the cancer was back and this time it was terminal.

After Leah's death, her parents Debbie (pictured) and Richard, were given her GCSE results and went to her grave to tell her what she had achieved

Mrs Wilby said: ‘Leah was just 14. Our world collapsed but Leah remained strong. She knew straight away she didn’t want anyone to know.

‘She just wanted to carry on being Leah and living her normal life for as long as she had left.’

Leah kept her hair during chemotherapy so nobody guessed.

But in March 2011, Mr and Mrs Wilby were told Leah had just weeks to live.

Typically, Leah remained determined to complete her exams and the family turned their lounge into a makeshift classroom for her to study.

Mrs Wilby said: ‘Every morning without fail she got washed and dressed and opened her books. It broke my heart to see her working so hard knowing she wasn’t expected to live long enough to sit the exams.

‘But at the same time I had never felt so proud or so in awe of my daughter’s courage and strength.’

Before Leah died she laid out her funeral plans, which included a wish to have her coffin pulled by white horses

Leah even shopped for a prom dress despite the event not taking place until June.

Her mother said: ‘She picked a stunning pink princess design and I swore no matter how poorly she was I would get her there.’

In May 2011 she sat the first of her GCSE exams after getting special permission from the exam board to take them at home.

Debbie said: ‘We had to create exam conditions and they even sent an assessor from the board.

‘Leah came down with her hair done and a look of determination on her face and got to work.’

Over the following weeks she sat a further nine exams. But by the end of May she was increasingly tired.

Her parents have now started a charity called the Leah Wilby Foundation which offers the family's of children with cancer free holidays at this caravan in Great Yarmouth

‘She was still determined to make the prom and kept trying on her dress. She looked stunning. But in our hearts we knew the end was coming.

‘By then she had told her closest girlfriends so we invited them round to say goodbye.’

On Monday June 13th, 2011 Leah died surrounded by her family. She had even left instructions for her funeral, including a carriage pulled by white horses.

WHAT IS NEUROBLASTOMA?

Neuroblastoma is a rare childhood cancer which develops from the nerve cells.

It usually starts in the child's abdomen, developing in the adrenal glands, before spreading to other areas such as the bones, liver and skin.

About 100 children in the UK are affected every year - it is most common in children under the age of five.

The cause of the cancer is unknown but it is not generally genetic.

Symptoms depend on where the cancer is and whether it has spread, but early symptoms can include aches and pains and loss of appetite.

The most common symptom once the cancer has developed is a lump or swelling in the abdomen as well as constipation and stomach pain.

Other possible symptoms include a lump in the neck, bone pain, numbness in the lower body, anaemia and bluish lumps in the skin.

The outlook for patients is generally better if the child is younger and the cancer is slow growing.

It can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy but it often returns after treatment.

She was buried in the prom dress she never got the chance to wear.

As news of her death spread, friends and neighbours who still had no idea she was even ill were left shocked.

Her mother said: ‘Of course it didn’t make any sense to them and they were understandably very upset but once we explained why we had kept it a secret they respected Leah’s wishes.’

Two months later a teacher from her school hand delivered Leah’s GSCE results.

Leah had scored ten grades ranging between A* and C.

Debbie said: ‘We went to the cemetery and told her how well she had done. We laughed and told her not to be cross that they weren’t all As.’

The family later started fundraising to be able to offer other cancer stricken youngsters the chance to enjoy normality in the way Leah had.

The Leah Wilby Foundation was formed and by March last year they had raised enough to buy a caravan at the Haven Holiday Seashore camp in Great Yarmouth where families of children with cancer could spend valuable time.

This year they will operate their first full season but high running costs mean they need a constant flow of donations.

Debbie said: ‘These families need our help, they deserve a break in what is the most difficult time of their lives and it’s a privilege to help.’